O’er the moonlit plains of Palestine,
And a softer light o’er the earth was flung
And the pale stars waxed no longer dim,
And forth on a thousand harps outrung
The rising notes of the angels’ hymn.
The same bright stars that then looked down
With a guardian watch o’er hill and plain,
Unfading gems in the starry crown
Glittering on in the blue remain,
And the solemn awe that crept them round